Sarasvati - Of Art and Knowledge

1. We took the Shinkansen today! I had originally planned for us to get in to Tokyo late morning or midday and then we could get lockers for the luggage and do some stuff in the city, but since we had a long amusement park day yesterday and another one tomorrow, we decided this would be a more take it easy day, so while we did get lockers and do a little bit of stuff and then took the train to Maihama, it wasn’t a whole long day of tramping around. Once in Maihama, we got dinner at Ikspiari and then took the monorail to our hotel.

2. Our hotel is nice, better than the first one, but not as nice as the Park Front Hotel at USJ. We’ll be here for seven nights, so I’m glad it’s not as tiny as the Respire, but they don’t have a coin laundry! I tried to do laundry this morning before we left, but the Park Front just has one machine per floor and it was in use, so I have a bunch of shirts and underwear/socks to wash. I went downstairs and asked if they really don’t have a laundry room and were apologetic and said we could use the one at the hotel next door, so I will be doing that tomorrow (it’s the hotel we stayed at last year, so I am familiar with the layout and the laundry room, and maybe even still have the app).

3. Disneyland tomorrow! It’s exciting just to be here in Maihama. Oh, and the monorail we took tonight had the DisneySea 25th anniversary wrap on it! The official anniversary celebration doesn’t start until the 15th, which is the day we leave, but they might already have some other decorations up and possibly even some merch out. Fingers crossed!

1. I actually got a full night’s sleep! Fingers crossed that continues.

2. It was a little rainy this morning (never more than sprinkling, really, and never for a long time) but dry the rest of the day. Very windy and cold, though. I’ve been wearing shorts and t-shirts since we got here, but today was definitely a jeans and hoodie day and unlike Disneyland, you can’t get back in the park once you leave, so we wouldn’t have been able to go back to the hotel and change if we’d needed to, but thankfully we made the right choice in the morning. It was colder than I would prefer today (especially with that wind!) but I’ll take it over the heat we had this weekend. (Still getting over the sunburn…)

3. We had a really nice day at Universal Studios. Even though we were only there for a few hours yesterday, it really did help us navigate better today, so I’m glad we went with the 1.5 day ticket. I do wish I’d done more research about the express passes and access to Super Nintendo World, because I tried to buy passes this morning before we went over there and they were all sold out. If you get a pass for one of the rides in Super Nintendo World, it guarantees access to the land, but otherwise you might end up with a situation like I did yesterday where even though you reserve a spot, there’s still a lottery for who gets in. I think that might only be for later in the day, though. This morning I couldn’t sign up for access at all, so I thought it was all sold out, too, but I then later I read something that they have non-reserved access first thing in the morning, so I tried again and was able to get a reservation for 3pm. Didn’t get to go on any of the rides because without a fast pass the lines were ridiculous (3 hours for Minecart Madness) but at least we got to go in and see the land. Even their original Super Nintendo land is bigger than ours, but now it has the Donkey Kong expansion so it’s huge and really impressive. We had a great time overall, though. Rode a few things they don’t have at our park, saw some shows, ate some delicious food, and took in the sights.

1. I got more sleep last night than the night before and fell asleep right away, but the total was still only like 5-5.5 hours max. Hopefully tonight will be more.

2. We had a really fun day today with nintendoh and his husband. Cherry blossom viewing at Osaka Castle and then lunch at an okonomiyaki place and karaoke after that. None of us had been karaoke in years and this was a reminder of how much I enjoy it. It also provided a really nice way to relax after getting too much sun at the castle (the forecast had promised overcast weather all day so we did not put on sunblock or bring hats, which was a mistake as it was not overcast during the whole midday period that we were out).

3. Alex sent us lots of cat pics today again. I miss them so much but I’m glad they seem more settled this time.

1. We arrived safe and sound in Japan! The flight was delayed slightly due to headwinds, but I think we were only like 20 minutes later than planned. The biggest annoyance was that the gate was changed last minute and while I received a email about it, I somehow missed the email and the board at the original gate still had the info for our flight showing as if it was still boarding there. Thankfully we realized in time and were able to get to the new gate right when boarding started. Customs went pretty quick and we were able to get a bus to the hotel right away. And the drop off for the bus was a lot closer to the hotel than it looked on google maps. Totally exhausted now but hopefully that means we can just go to bed and wake up on Japan time (it’s 10:30pm here now).

2. I got donuts this morning on my walk before we headed to the airport so that was a nice breakfast.

3. I miss the kitties but Alex sent some pics while we were on the plane so that was nice to see when we arrived and had cell service again.

I decided to do an early post this week for the stuff I've read up through today, so they're fresher in my memory, rather than saving everything for when we get back from vacation.

Recently Finished
If You See Me, Don't Say Hi
A collection of short stories by an Indian American author centered around romantic relationships. They were good, but felt very samey. I think I would have enjoyed them more on their own than all together.

The Coffee Shop Detectives
Heist novel featuring a group of women in their sixties who decide to steal a valuable broach from the man who killed their friend forty years ago but was never punished, in order to pay for experimental cancer treatment for one of them. I really loved this! Listened to it as an audiobook and the narrator was great, too.

Black Cats and Butlers
Middle grade mystery set in an alternative Victorian England. When the MC's beloved butler is murdered, she is determined to find out who did it. This was cute, but I didn't like it enough to want to continue the series.

Ana on the Edge
Middle grade book about an ice skater coming to terms with being non-binary. I loved this so much! I did find it a bit unrealistic that despite living in San Francisco and having gay friends (including her coach), neither Ana nor her mom seem to have heard of trans people at all (even binary trans people). I also was surprised ( spoiler ) But those are minor quibbles and overall this is a great book.

The Inugami Curse
Second in the English translation series order of the Kindaichi Kosuke mysteries. I liked this one even more than the first. Definitely looking forward to reading more.